Editing and tracking changes in visual effects

ABSTRACT

A method for determining edits of a subject video reel, comprising steps of opening an original EDL, reading every line of the original EDL, identifying event names representing each shot and identifying a source file. Each event includes at least a camera time code for the shot length, and a location time code indicating location of the shot in the source file. Locating events and picking up the in and out camera time codes from the shot names, noting shot names and camera times for shots found to have common in and out times, identifying every VFX shot and storing VFX names. Next, the software compares camera times for the shots in the first temporary file with camera times for the same shots in the second temporary file; preparing a result EDL file listing exclusively all VFX shots in which changes were found, and detailing the changes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is in the technical area of production of digitalvideo presentations, including special effects, and pertains moreparticularly to an efficient method of tracking changes in visualeffects from one version of a production edit to a later version.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

Present day editing in film making, involves a Picture Editor assemblingthe cut of a movie or series and repeatedly cutting to refine the scenesto make them work and appear seamless when viewing. The challenge increating visual effects in this working environment is that pictureediting cuts are made so quickly and often that maintaining the statusand working length of a visual effects shot is highly difficult andlaborious.

A critically important job in film production in the digital age is thatof a Visual Effects Editor. The Visual Effects Editor's main job, whichis central to the present invention, is to track every visual effect(VFX) shot in a timeline of a production edit that needs any type of VFXand giving it a shot ID.

The VFX Editor has to know when a shot is cut out, when a new shot isadded, when a shot is slipped or rolled (extending or shortening thebeginning and end of a VFX shot). All the while, making sure that theshot works with sound and syncs or affects sound. The process ofproducing the finished product also involves maintaining the shot statusfor the many more contributors who are VFX vendors and actually work onthese VFX shots in high resolution, 2 k or 4 k files.

VFX Editors all have some sort of proprietary database to log and keeprecords of all shots that are work in progress at the vendors, untilthey are considered Final, meaning they are ready for feature ortelevision release. These records are usually called Count Sheets orLine Up sheets.

A common method to check and keep re-checking changes in VFX shots in anediting timeline is to gang sync, meaning selecting an old reel andsyncing it to a new reel and manually spot checking each VFX shot one byone. Another way is to manually check each shot against the data in theCount Sheets with each timecode from the editing timeline. Both of thesemethods are extremely time consuming and labor intensive to the point ofadding weeks and thousands of dollars to a given editing project.

What is clearly needed is a process that can look at data from one reeland data from a second, later reel, and determine all changes in a rapidand efficient manner, ending in a report detailing all changes.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A method for determining edits made between two versions of a subjectvideo reel, comprising selecting an original edit decision list (EDL)for the subject video reel in an interactive interface displayed by theapplication executing on the computerized platform, the EDL representingan ordered list of all reel and time code data showing where each videoclip is located in the reel. The steps of the method begin withselecting a revised EDL for the subject video reel, to be analyzed forchanges to the original EDL for the subject video reel; selecting afolder for storage of a VFX result file from the analysis of theoriginal and the revised EDLs of the subject video reel; and initiatingexecution of an application for analysis.

The process continues opening the original EDL; reading every line ofthe original EDL, identifying event names representing each shot andidentifying a source file, each event including at least a camera timecode for the shot length, and a location time code indicating locationof the shot in the source file. Next, locating events and picking up thein and out time codes from the shot names, and identifying those shotsin separate events having common in and out location time codes; notingshot names and camera time codes for shots found to have common in andout location times, storing the shot names and camera times in a firsttemporary file; identifying every VFX shot and storing VFX names andtime codes in the first temporary file. Opening the revised EDL file,and searching the revised EDL file for the VFX shots occurs in the nextstep. The software then notes camera times for the VFX shots in therevised EDL file and noting any new frames and missing frames from theindividual shots. An analysis occurs between camera times for the shotsin the first temporary file with camera times for the same shots in thesecond temporary file.

A resulting EDL file is prepared from the information is determined andstored, the result EDL file listing exclusively all VFX shots in whichchanges were found, detailing the changes determined from the differingcamera time codes between the original EDL file and the revised EDL; andthen the result EDL report is stored in the folder selected for storagein the interactive interface.

One embodiment teaches that the report, prepared and stored, notes addedslates or missing slates in each event where changes were found.Additionally, the report may list all VFX clips by name in order, andchanges associated with each VFX clip from the first date and the laterdate. The report at least details head and tail frame revisions in theVFX clips. An additional embodiment teaches that the VFX clips listed inthe in the result EDL report are icons functioning as links to actuallocations in the video reel where edits occur, enabling display of thatreel portion, wherein once at the actual location, further VFX edits maybe made.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is and example of an Edit Decision List (EDL).

FIG. 2 is a short portion of an EDL, on a first date.

FIG. 3 is a short portion of the EDL of FIG. 1 at a second, later date.

FIG. 4 is a short portion of the EDL on the first date at a place in theEDL where a VFX shot is identified in the source material and twosequential in and out time codes are the same.

FIG. 5 illustrates a portion of the EDL for the later date where the VFXshot of FIG. 4 appears in the timeline.

FIG. 6 is a portion of an output log listing all of the VFX files andshot changes in the movie, at a later date.

FIG. 7A is an illustration of a user interface in an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 7B illustrates a display of icons representing EDL files fordifferent reels on different dates.

FIG. 7C illustrates a display of icons representing changes made in areel between two different dates.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a unique process in an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of steps in a unique process of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a functional layout of a computerized device dedicated toperforming the unique process of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A unique process in an embodiment of the present invention begins withwhat is known in the art as an edit decision list (EDL). An EDL is atool used by artists and digital creators for various reasons and indifferent ways. An EDL was first created in the 1970's for linear tapebased editing. All present day non-linear editing systems use EDLs. AnEDL is used in post-production processes of film editing and videoediting. An EDL is an ordered list of reel and time code data showingwhere each video clip can be obtained in order to conform to a finalcut.

There are in the video arts several forms of EDLs. In examples in thisspecification the EDLs are in a format termed in the art File_129, butthis is not a limitation in the invention, as the invention inalternative embodiments may well use EDLs in different formats thanFile_129. The File_129 EDL format is used, for example, in editingsoftware programs, for example, Avid Media™ Composer's List Tool, or 32character name setting in Adobe Premier™ Pro's EDL export window.

Receiving an EDL as output from a commercial software editing program,as mentioned above, is not a limiting step as the process, as claimed,may be part of applicant's proprietary video editing software or anadd-on to any existing video editing tool that incorporates the abilityto edit special effects in a video or movie.

FIG. 1 is a screenshot of an example of a short portion of an EDL in theformat called File_129. This format keeps the original camera sourcefilename intact (because they can be so many characters). The EDL shownin FIG. 1 is from a Reel 4 on a date of August 14, hence REEL 04 0814 inthis format heading the screenshot in FIG. 1.

Referring to area 101 in FIG. 1 attention is drawn to the line itembeginning with 000112. This is an event number in the EDL. All EDLs haveevent numbers listed. When there are numerous tracks on a timelinestacked vertically the event numbers can and often will shift in theEDL, even when exporting the same EDL twice without any changes. It maybe noted, for example, that Event No. 000111 is listed after Event No.000112. Nevertheless, all of the event numbers will be listed in theEDL, just not always in the same order.

Referring again to area 101 in FIG. 1 Event No. 000112 has six lines. Inthe first line from the top of the area defined by 101, linearlyfollowing the Event No. 000112, the designation A142C010_181002_R6LZ onthe same line designates a source file. Note also that the source filedesignation is repeated on the last of the six lines associated withEvent No. 000112. The camera department assigns this source number foreach take, shot or filming of a of a specific scene. The source filedesignation is embedded into metadata in the shot and is also visible indailies as a watermark. Dailies, in this embodiment, refers to rawfootage shot during the production of a motion picture (also known asrushes or daily rushes, referring to the speed with which they must beprepared). The shot may be digitally recorded or recorded on tape. Thesource file is a unique identifier (serial number) to each clipcontaining letters and numbers.

The second line of Event No. 000112 reads: *FROM CLIP NAME V69Q-7A*.This is what the clip is called when first or originally filmed. TheClip Name is also known as a slate, providing a scene number and takenumber of the clip. This example would fall under scene 69 and would bethe 7^(th) take.

The next line reads *LOC: 04:01:58:04 WHITE RF0280. The LOC is locationwhere a marker is placed manually to add a VFX shot, in this caseRF0280. White—was just the color of the marker used to tag the VFX shotname at the time. Not every event will have a VFX shot.

The next line is ASC_SOP, followed by a series of numbers inparentheses, which are values that designate color. Once the raw(original) digital files in the camera have been graded a certain colorfor what they call dailies, the values go in the EDL. The color valuesand the next line ASC_SAT are not pertinent to the present invention.

Referring now to events both above and below Event No. 000112, there areseen clip names RF0280_V0093.MOV, and RF0280_V0131.MOV. These areversions of shots that vendors submitted as work in progress that havebeen brought into the EDL. Thus, the editing software using File_129creates shot names and source files, which are named the same.

Following to the right on the first line of Event No. 000112, there arefour time code numbers, in sequence [10:20:02:21] [10:20:04:14][04:01:57:16] and [04:01:59:09]. The first two of the four are in andout times, respectively, recorded for that specific clip recorded by thecamera. The second two time codes are the in and out times for this clipin the timeline of the movie. The timeline of the movie may not onlyreflect time segments taken up by the shot, but may also denote positionor place of the shot in the movie recording. FIG. 1 is presented simplyas an example of an EDL in the context of the present invention, toexplain the naming conventions.

FIG. 2 is a short portion at the beginning of a very much longer EDLfrom a beginning of cut of a movie, Reel 4, dated 0605 (Title). FIG. 3is a short portion of an EDL for the same reel, Reel 4 at a later date0611. The time difference of several days from 0605 to 0611 makes itvirtually certain that picture editing has occurred between the twoversions of Reel 4. Referring to FIG. 2, the first line is the title:Reel 4, and date, 0605, and FIG. 3 the first line is the title Reel 4,and date 0611.

It has occurred to the inventor in considering the EDLs of FIG. 2 andFIG. 3 that because the editing software lists events in a verticalstack, one might locate instances in an EDL where two events occur inthe same time period in the reel, and note whether there is a VFX clipin the first event of sequential time codes in the timeline of the reel.This may be done by reading the in and out times for an event in thetime line of the reel, which are the time entries in the third andfourth time lines for the event, and noting if there is a VFX clip inthe event. Then the in and out time codes of the clips in the originalmay be compared to the same clips in the EDL at a later time, whilenoting new clips and omissions. The result can determine just the placesor locations in the reel where actual changes have been made, extremelyvaluable information.

FIG. 4 is a short portion of the EDL on the first date, 0605 of FIG. 2,at a place in the EDL hundreds of entries later where in and outlocation time codes for sequentially listed, separate events areidentified as the same, and a VFX clip is identified in the sourcematerial. A box 401 encloses where the in and out location time codesare the same for sequential events 000369 and 000368. A box 402indicates the VFX name, and a dotted box 403 indicates the in and outcamera time codes for the location and length of the VFX clip, itself,in the source file.

FIG. 5 illustrates a portion of the EDL for the later date, 0611, whereVFX RF1280 is located and appears in the timeline. A box 501 enclosesall the data pertinent to VFX RF 1280 in this later EDL, encompassingfour events, 000501, 000502, 000503 and 000500. Referring back to FIG. 3it may be seen that the time codes for VFX RF1280 clip are 00:27:45:07to 00:27:46:13. The codes in the later EDL of FIG. 5, underlined aselements 502 are 00:27:45:07 to 00:27:46:01. Clearly the clip in thisportion has been truncated by 12 frames, indicated by the differencebetween 0027:46:13 and 00:27:46:01. The time codes underlined aselements 503 in the later EDL show that this clip has also beentruncated. The data in the later EDL also shows that two new clips havebeen added between the earlier and the later EDL. These are indicated byelements 504 and 505.

In an embodiment of the present invention the inventor has provided asystem performed by software executing algorithms and performing ananalysis on data in the EDLs wherein a first EDL is loaded and a second,later EDL is also loaded. Every instance in the first EDL wheresequential time codes of the movie timeline are uniform and associatedwith a VFX by name, the portion of the later EDL in which every instanceof the same VFX is noted is accessed, and the time codes for the VFX arecompared, to determine if any change has been made.

FIG. 6 is a portion of an output log of applicant's invention listingall of the VFX files detected and captured in the reel. It should beunderstood that the EDL files and the EDL of FIG. 5 are very long files,including up to thousands of entries and only a portion may be shown ina single figure. Referring again to FIG. 6 a highlighted portion alsoindicated by an arrow, shows expanded data regarding RF1280, such asdiscussed above. Two slates have been added in the revised file. For theclip A589C027_181011_R71Y: [VX70H-5A*] the tail has been reduced by 12frames. In total VFX RF1280 is reduced by 12 frames.P_RFP1280_LAYOUT_V001.MOV clip: [P_RFP1280_Layout_V001.MOV} Tail reducedby 12 frames. In total RF1280 is reduced by 12 frames. This result isextremely valuable information for the VFX editor and VFX department,and in an embodiment of the present invention is obtained in momentsinstead of hours and days as in the prior art.

Now considering this new and unique process on a macro scale, wherethere may several hundred shots to several thousand in one reel alone,the impact of noting only the VFX shots that have actually changed inthe edit indicated by the later EDL is highly significant and impactful.Every single one of the VFX shots have numerous artists working on themat vendor shops to get to them to Final status, meaning theatricallyready. Typically, it takes tremendous amounts of time and energy, whichequates to a lot of money, to finish the VFX shots. If this efficiencyof the edit in terms of VFX can be exacted to this degree of applicant'sinvention, this can be beneficial to the entire production as a whole inthe movie making process. More movies will be made because it will bemuch faster and cheaper to edit a film and get it to market.

FIG. 7A is an illustration of a user interface 700 in an embodiment ofthe invention. A Tracker Application according to an embodiment of theinvention may be saved in a non-transitory data repository, and bootedto execute, which may result in the user interface of FIG. 8A beingdisplayed on a display monitor of a computerized device (FIG. 10) in useby, in one instance, a VFX editor. There may be a log-in procedure forthe VFX editor to enter perhaps a username and a password to log in tothe application.

Interface 700 may be presented on a display device as output to thecomputerized device of FIG. 10. Interface 700 is headed in this exampleSRHEE TRACKER 2020 v1.05. This is an arbitrary name in this example,indicating a version of an executable application in an embodiment ofthe invention. Input Field 701 enables the VFX Editor logged in toselect an original EDL file for analysis to a later revised file. If theVFX Editor knows the name of a file of interest, she may enter the namein the input field. If the name is not known, button 706 is a Browselink, which may redirect the editor to a display of icons indicatingindividual ones of EDL files at different dates. Such as displayed isillustrated in FIG. 7B.

In one embodiment there may be a search function enabling the user toenter search criteria to find EDL files of interest. FIG. 7B illustratesa folder 709 with a plurality of interactive icons 710(a-n), each ofwhich represents a single EDL file which may be of interest to an editorto compare to a later EDL file. These EDL files are named in theconvention of the File_129 protocol described above and used in examplesin this specification. Each has therefore a Reel Number and a date. Notethat the files described above, these being Reel 04 0605.edl and Reel 040611.edl are shown as candidate EDLs in FIG. 7B. The inventor notes thatthe EDL files may incorporate other file extensions as .edl is not alimiting feature of the invention. The user may position the pointer inthe display over an icon, and a left click, for example, will enter thatfile name in the input field of FIG. 7A. In some embodiments the systemmay be configured to order the icons in the display in ascending ordescending order of dates.

After selecting a first file, as the original file in a analysis, theuser, in this case perhaps the VFX editor, may activate the “revisedfile” field and select a second EDL file from the display of FIG. 7B.Typically the revised EDL file will be of the same Reel number, and thedate will be soon after the date of the first EDL file. The exampleabove using Reel 04 0605.edl and Reel 04 0611.edl is a case in point,although the separation of six days in the dates is not a limitation.The separation could be more or less than that indicated in theseexample files.

Returning to FIG. 7A, once the “original” and the “revised” EDL file arechosen, the user may activate the “select folder” input field to directthe result of the upcoming analysis to be saved in a particular folder.FIG. 7C is a display for a folder 711 named “Result Files”, which is anexample of one such folder where results of the analysis in embodimentsof the invention may be saved. In the folder illustrated in FIG. 7Cthere are two result files 712 a and 712 b indicated by interactiveicons. File 712 a is labeled to indicate that it is a result file for ananalysis of Reel 04 0605.edl and Reel 04 0611.edl. This designation isarbitrary in this example, and may be indicated in a variety of ways.File 712 b is a result of analysis of Reel 07 0707.edl and Reel 070710.edl, a span of three days, which should assure that significantedits may have been made.

Another beneficial function of the VFX result files shown and describedin FIGS. 6 and 7C, is that each VFX label listed in the result filefunctions as a link to the location in the actual recording being editedof where the edited slate is or was (if deleted). For example an inputdevice, such as a cursor or other manner of selecting an individualslate RF1280, or RF1285 redirects the screen to actually locate, displayand play the location of the video recording where the slate edit islocated. This process greatly reduces additional processes to exit theTracker software and access back to the editing software to view theedit that is indicated. At this point corrections or further edits mayoccur.

FIG. 8 is an exemplary flow diagram illustrating steps in logging in andbooting an exemplary Tracker application in an embodiment of theinvention. In practice the application may be executed on a generalpurpose computer or workstation using a conventional operating systemand different versions of the Tracker application may be configured toexecute on different platforms with different operating systems. Thestep-by-step process is the same or very similar regardless of theplatform.

At step 801 a user selects and boots the SRHEE Tracker on the platformin use, which typically may display a log-in interface. At step 802 theuser enters Username and Password, or other ID required to logging in tothe program. At step 803 the user selects an original EDL file to beused in an analysis to discover changes that may be made from one dateto another in a particular reel. At step 804 the user selects a revisedEDL file for the analysis. At step 805 the user selects a folder forstorage of a Result file of the analysis. At step 806 the user initiatesthe analysis process by selecting the PROCESS button in the interface ofFIG. 7A. Step 807 indicates that details of the steps performed byalgorithms in the process are indicated in FIG. 9.

FIG. 9 is an exemplary flow diagram of steps in performed by algorithmsin a analysis process to determine changes in VFX clips from one date toanother in a reel. At step 901 the process opens the EDL selected as theoriginal EDL file for analysis in Step 803 of FIG. 8. At step 902 theprocess reads every line in the original EDL and identifies shot, slateand clip, and verifies VFX shot names. At step 903 the process picks upslate lines from shot names and checks for common in-out reel times. Atstep 904 the process notes clip names and camera times for clips in theevents having common in-out reel times, and stores these in a firsttemporary file.

Continuing in FIG. 9, the process, at step 905 opens the revised EDLfile selected at step 804 in FIG. 8. At step 906 the revised EDL file issearched for VFX clips named in events stored in the first temporaryfile. At step 907 the process notes camera times for the clips in theevents, and stores these in a second temporary file, associated with theevents. At step 908 the process notes any new clips, and any missingclips, in the events stored in the second temporary file. At step 909the process compares camera times for clips in the first temporary filewith camera times for the same clips in the second temporary file. Atstep 910 the process prepares a report from the information discoveredand stored in the previous steps, listing all VFX clips in which changeswere found and details of the changes. At step 911 the report is storedin the folder selected for same in step 805 of FIG. 8.

Another embodiment implements a specific computerized device enabled tostore and execute the software performing the method of the invention.FIG. 10 provides a computerized device having a media input port 1001.Media input port may include an application programming interface or APIenabled to exchange information with the video editing software anddirectly input EDLs from the editing software into the Tracker softwareof applicant's invention. The computerized device may include a monitorwhich displays the screen shots and processes shown and taught in thisdescription.

The skilled person will understand that the order of searches, thetemporary storage of information, and the nature of the results file mayall be done in a different order and in a variety of ways withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention. The skilled person will alsounderstand that the embodiments described herein are all exemplary andmay be altered to some extent without departing from the scope of theinvention. The scope of the invention is limited only by the claims.

I claim:
 1. A method for determining edits made between two versions ofa subject video reel, comprising: logging into an application configuredfor comparing versions of the subject video reel, the applicationexecuting on a computerized platform from a non-transitory medium;selecting an original edit decision list (EDL) for the subject videoreel in an interactive interface displayed by the application executingon the computerized platform, the EDL representing an ordered list ofall reel and time code data showing where each video clip is located inthe reel; selecting a revised EDL for the subject video reel, to beanalyzed for changes to the original EDL for the subject video reel;selecting a folder for storage of a VFX result file from the analysis ofthe original and the revised EDLs of the subject video reel; andinitiating execution of the application for analysis, wherein theapplication executes, comprising steps of: opening the original EDL;reading every line of the original EDL, identifying event namesrepresenting each shot and identifying a source file, each eventincluding at least a camera time code for the shot length, and alocation time code indicating location of the shot in the source file;locating events and picking up the in and out time codes from the shotnames, and identifying those shots in separate events having common inand out location time codes; noting shot names and camera time codes forshots found to have common in and out location times, storing the shotnames and camera times in a first temporary file; identifying every VFXshot and storing VFX names and time codes in the first temporary file;opening the revised EDL file, and searching the revised EDL file for theVFX shots; noting camera times for the VFX shots in the revised EDL fileand noting any new frames and missing frames from the individual shots;comparing camera times for the shots in the first temporary file withcamera times for the same shots in the second temporary file; preparinga result EDL file from the information determined and stored, the resultEDL file listing exclusively all VFX shots in which changes were found,detailing the changes determined from the differing camera time codesbetween the original EDL file and the revised EDL; and storing theresult EDL report in the folder selected for storage in the interactiveinterface.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein changes in the report areprepared and stored as notes, added slates or missing slates in eachevent where changes were found.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein thereport lists all VFX clips by name in order, and changes associated witheach VFX clip from the first date and the later date.
 4. The method ofclaim 3 wherein the report details head and tail frame revisions in theVFX clips.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein the VFX names representingVFX clips listed in the in the result EDL report are icons functioningas links to actual locations in the video reel where edits occur,enabling display of that reel portion.
 6. The method of claim 5, whereinonce at the actual location, further VFX edits may be made.